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A Call To Arms

It has only been a few months since we went through the sermon series on Spiritual Disciplines. I thought it might be good to reflect on those a little bit. Hopefully you have continued on in those disciplines and you have continued to grow in your walk with God because of them. The truth is that if you are like most people, some of the disciplines, maybe all of them, have slowly faded back into the long list of things that you know you should be doing and will get back around to at some point.

Disciplines are tricky things. Just when you think you are getting one down, another one starts to slip. The reality is that we are called to be multi-taskers when it comes to our spiritual life. We cannot focus on just one discipline at a time, but rather we must strive to be obedient in them all.

X Factor is a really good example of this. Depending on the time, our church excels in one area or another. We have been doing incredibly well in our small group discipleship but lacking in our evangelism. Now that we are starting to focus more on evangelism our stewardship and giving is plummeting. Just as it is critical for individuals to keep the disciplines up, the same is true for the church as a whole.

So I want to challenge you to try something this week. Harold challenged us this weekend to be sharing our faith with those around us. Do that. Make sure that you are open to hear God when He leads you to share your faith. But in order to hear, we must be listening. Spend time daily with God, both talking and listening. Find some time to sit quietly without distraction to meditate on Scripture. Take time to worship God for who He is. Read and study your Bible in order to be better prepared for what God has called you to do. Consider taking some time to fast about where you are in your life and what you need to be doing in order to be more inline with the will of God for your life.

I struggle with the disciplines just as much as the next person. One fact that I have learned is that there will never be a better time to start working on them. Life does not slow down in order for us to catch up. We have to decide today what the priority in our life is going to be- us or God? I challenge you to choose God.

At X Factor, I see us stepping up to the plate. I see people coming to know God daily just as the first century church did in Acts. I see us coming together for powerful worship. I see sacrificial giving so that we might be able to accomplish all that God has called us to do. I see God moving among us. I see X Factor being an obedient body that God will use for great things in His Kingdom.

No matter where you are in your life right now, God wants to use you. The church needs you to be all that God has called you to be. We need and you need your obedience to God’s calling for you. There are people alive today that you are called to reach out to.

I am so proud of our church and the servants in it. But there is so much more that we can do for the Kingdom. Consider this a call to arms. The battle is raging and we can stand on the sidelines no more. We must discipline ourselves to be completely in the will of God in all areas of our life. Come to battle! Fight the fight! Glory to God!